Great Witcombe Roman Villa
About
Great Witcombe perches on a steep, spring-fed hillside below Birdlip Hill, its unusual U-shaped courtyard plan built to follow the slope instead of fighting it. Construction began sometime between about 150 and 250 CE, with a bath suite later extended beneath the courtyard and protected by a cross-wall. The estate kept expanding through the late 3rd and 4th centuries and stayed occupied into the early 5th century, long after Roman rule in Britain ended. In 117 CE the hillside was still untouched Cotswold slope; Great Witcombe's builders would not break ground there for at least another generation.
What happened here
A working estate with a comfortable house attached, and the proportions vary with how rich the owner is and how often he visits. The farm side has presses for oil and wine, threshing floors, storage sunk into the ground, stables and quarters for the workforce. The residential side has baths, dining rooms sited for the view, mosaics, and a garden with water in it. A manager runs the place year-round and reports; the owner arrives for the vintage and for the summer. Produce goes to market or to the owner's town house, and the accounts are kept in detail. Some villas are pure retreat with no farm at all, built on a cliff or a lake specifically to be looked at from a boat.
Sources
Nearby
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Roman Maps shows the empire frozen at 11 August 117 CE, the day Trajan died — its moment of greatest territorial extent. Explore the full map →